So if arriving on Thursday we will be directed to ‘the tarmac lake’ where we will report to the ‘reception cabin’ to collect passes before being escorted one at a time into the paddock.....

Best arrive early then!

And where the heck is the ‘tarmac lake’ ?

Good question.

At a guess that would be the old Melbourne Hairpin area now used for Supercar Experience gigs with the upper section often patrolled by the Caterham Experience people or, last visit, a Mazda day of some kind - possibly a dealer thing.

There is a direct access gate from there at Redgate. Plus access to the main Paddock entrance gate although that would likely be unsuitable for large Artics to turn directly left into the entrance. I could be wrong and there are some options for manoeuvring. No problem if everyone is sensible.

Of course it might just be the new tarmac on the previously gravel area.

FF1600; Lola T70s/GT40s (etc ) and a better grid of Derek Bell single seaters please. I recall watching and listening to the Matra MS 670 at DHF a few years ago and seeing that and similar cars again would be nice

FF1600; Lola T70s/GT40s (etc ) and a better grid of Derek Bell single seaters please. I recall watching and listening to the Matra MS 670 at DHF a few years ago and seeing that and similar cars again would be nice

I think it all depends ‘who’ is the first priority for the organisers- the Competitor or the Spectator? In previous years the Donington HF on track organisation was down to HSCC, this year it is MSV, but whether they have a say or not in deciding what grids are on the programme, I don’t know. Think I’m right in saying that Motor Racing Legends were behind the original DHF, so not surprising that their grids are present, and other organisers like HMRN and GTSCC. Maybe in another year HFF could replace Derek Bell or FJ..... Not sure how you would get a big sports car grid at the festival. Masters WSM is an FIA Championship and races are held at their own events, while Peter Auto (CER) don’t venture this side of the channel. It would probably need someone like Masters to drop Silverstone Classic in favour of DHF, and I cant see that happening anytime soon. A ‘stand alone’ race for big sports cars would need an organiser prepared to take a gamble on attracting enough cars to make it viable...

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Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. (Einstein)

The '1000km' race - where you'd find T70s and the like - struggled to attract entries for the last couple of years. I always struggled to understand that, there's no shortage of those cars around in the country. Maybe the longer distance of the race put people off?

In 2014 Masters took their WSM to the DHF but that appears to have been a one-off, sadly.

The '1000km' race - where you'd find T70s and the like - struggled to attract entries for the last couple of years. I always struggled to understand that, there's no shortage of those cars around in the country. Maybe the longer distance of the race put people off?

In 2014 Masters took their WSM to the DHF but that appears to have been a one-off, sadly.

Yes, the 1000km struggled, and not sure if now combined with Martini Trophy and Pre80s endurance? May not be totally, but for some meetings....

Also not sure if Masters WSM (now called FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars, it seems!) was an FIA championship in 2014. That could be the difference. And Group C (now with Peter Auto) is down to just 4 events this year, including Le Mans Classic. The fact that anyone wishing to enter GpC at that event has to compete in two other GpC races beforehand will artificially boost entries a bit but still only 19 cars started at Barcelona 3 weeks ago. I guess there will be some cars from far distant lands to help the numbers, but a stand alone race at DHF doesn’t sound like it was an option......

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Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. (Einstein)

Yes, the 1000km struggled, and not sure if now combined with Martini Trophy and Pre80s endurance? May not be totally, but for some meetings....

Also not sure if Masters WSM (now called FIA Masters Historic Sports Cars, it seems!) was an FIA championship in 2014. That could be the difference. And Group C (now with Peter Auto) is down to just 4 events this year, including Le Mans Classic. The fact that anyone wishing to enter GpC at that event has to compete in two other GpC races beforehand will artificially boost entries a bit but still only 19 cars started at Barcelona 3 weeks ago. I guess there will be some cars from far distant lands to help the numbers, but a stand alone race at DHF doesn’t sound like it was an option......

Could the inclusion of the latter F1 atmo engined GrC cars be part of the reason for less cars? It would put me off entering my trusty 962, XJR9 or Spice if I had to face those 905's or XJR14's!!

Could the inclusion of the latter F1 atmo engined GrC cars be part of the reason for less cars? It would put me off entering my trusty 962, XJR9 or Spice if I had to face those 905's or XJR14's!!

The latest iteration of the Masters Historic series includes Peugeot 908's, Audi R8's, Lola and Nissans which would certainly make a Porsche 962 look pretty pedestrian. I watched several of them testing a few weeks ago at Brands prior to their first round at Imola and the speed and agility of the more modern sports prototypes is breathtaking on a small circuit.

The latest iteration of the Masters Historic series includes Peugeot 908's, Audi R8's, Lola and Nissans which would certainly make a Porsche 962 look pretty pedestrian. I watched several of them testing a few weeks ago at Brands prior to their first round at Imola and the speed and agility of the more modern sports prototypes is breathtaking on a small circuit.

The 'Endurance Legends' series (championship?) is intended to represent the period after GpC. The cars are certainly quicker by some margin! Peter Auto dabbled with a similar idea last season, but nothing has come of it this season. I'm wondering if Historic GpC has 'had it's day', and cars will go back into collections / museums, to be replaced with something more modern (and possibly cheaper?).......

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Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. (Einstein)